Overall Record: 25-6 | WCC Record: 11-3

For the third straight year, USF defeated Portland in the West Coast Conference Championship game to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Dons won an exciting 65-59 overtime game, snapping the Pilots 24 game winning streak. Guard Brittany Lindhe converted a key three-point play with 1:01 left in overtime to put the game out of reach.

The Dons were awarded a No. 11 seed in the Mideast Regional and were slated to face 6th seed USC in the opening round. USF came out of the gates strong and trailed by just six points at halftime. The Dons eventually fell 68-55 to the Trojans. Lindhe paced USF with 15 points, while Renee Demirdjian added 13 points in her final game with the Dons.

The Dons opened the season with an 85-79 overtime loss to Arizona in the first round of the Women’s Preseason NIT. The Dons then won 13 of their next 14 games including wins over St. John’s, Ohio State, California, Colorado, UNLV, Marquette and Texas A&M. Portland finally cooled USF off on January 16th, handing USF a 69-63 overtime loss in the Rose City.

In fact, two of the Dons five regular season losses came in overtime, and two other defeats were decided by three points or less. Only top ranked Stanford was able to have an “easy” win over USF, defeating the Dons 61-46 at War Memorial Gym in early December, in front of a school-record 4,678 screaming fans.

The Dons placed three players on the All-WCC team for the first time in school history and set a new team and league record for defense, allowing a stingy 53.9 points per game. The 25 wins marked the third straight season that USF won 24 games or more. 

Did You Know? Portland came within seconds of defeating USF in the WCC Championship game. The Pilots held a 55-53 lead with 3.9 seconds left when Dons guard Brittany Lindhe was fouled and went to the foul line for the front end of a one-and-one. She hit both free throws to send the game to overtime and USF eventually prevailed 65-59. “I tried not to think about the situation,” said Linde. “When I think, I miss.” 

They Said It: “We are going to have a big party on Selection Sunday,” said elated Dons Co-Head Coach Mary Hile-Nepfel after the WCC title game. “We’ll find out who we play and where we are going. But first I’m going to enjoy this a little more.”